Musical instrument



March 18, 1930. HGl-:YER 1,750,792

v MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Fild Nov. 17, 1928 INVENTOR:

Jeigel Clyer,

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 18, 193i) TENT FFICE HERBERT G. BEYER, OF BALTIMORE, IVIARYLAND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application filed November 17, 1928. Serial No. 320,148.

The invention relates to the type of musical instruments which employ reeds, the air currents past which are produced by the user blowing into the instrument or crea-ting suction therethrough.

The air currents to the reeds are controlled by a note sheet, which in turn cont-rols valves associated with the wind chests of the instrument.

The invention consists in the features and combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the instrument with parts broken away and parts in section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 looking in the arrow direction (Fig. 1).

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of a modiiied form.

Fig. 5 is a section of Fig. 4 on line 5 5.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the supporting member for the valve controllers of Fig. 4.

In the drawings 1 indicates the lower section of the casing and 2 the upper section. These sections are hinged together at 3 and may be held in closed position by any suitable form of clip or fastening as at 4. The sections of the casing, desirably, are molded from bakelite, the upper section having recesses 5 in which are mounted the rolls 6, carrying a note controller sheet 7. The lower section of the casing has wind chests 8, 9, molded therein, over which are Xed reed plates 10 carrying reeds 11, and guards 12, the latter being like in an ordinary harmonica formed of sheet metal.

The wind chests, it will be noticed, are arranged in two series and all of them communicate with the interior of the casing through openings 13, which are controlled by valves 14. These valves have cork facings to make a tight seal around the edges of the openings. These valves work in pairs, one for a wind chest of the series 8, and the other for a wind chest of the series 9, being carried by the same spring pressed arm 15. Each of these arms, there being one for each pair of valves, is mounted on pins 16. Springs 17 press the arms to lift the valves from the openings 13 when relieved from restraint of the perforated sheet, or what may be termed a note controlling sheet 7. This note sheet passes in Contact with a perforated bar 18 and furnishes a bearing for the sheet at which said sheet is exposed for contact with the point or feeler finger 19, one of which is carried by each of the spring pressed arms 15. The perforated sheet as it passes from one roll to the other finds bearings at 2O on the casing. Any suitable means may be employed to move the note controlling sheet from roll to roll, such as hand cranks connected with the rolls.

In passing over the feeler 19 the note controlling sheet presents its perforations to the feeler, which therefore frees the valve carrier arms from restraint, allowing the springs 17 to lift said arms together with the valves 14 carried thereby.

As before stated, each arm or carrier 15 has two valves 14 thereon, one for the wind chest whose reed is operable by blowing, and the other for the wind chest whose reed is operable by suction, so that the operator by blowing and sucking through the mouth piece a can get a harmonica effect when the note controller sheet presents its opening to the feeler linger.

By reason of utilizing the note controlling sheet to control valve mechanism for the wind chests instead of employing said sheet directly in connection with a tracker board and for the purpose of directly cutting off or supplying the air currents to the wind chests, I am enabled to employ a much shorter perforated sheet for a given composition because the intact parts of the sheet between the perforations in the longitudinal direction of movementare not, in my present improvement, relied on to cut off the air to the wind chests.

Ordinarily these intact portions of the sheet are relied on to determine the period of time that the wind chest is to be closed against the access of air currents thereto and hence these intact portions must be of an extent to at some time close the mouth of the wind chest. This imposes a restriction upon the degree to which these intact portions may be reduced, and hence the speed of the sheet must be rapid enough to get the proper time interval between notes based on the length of these intact portions. In my present improvement where the perforated sheet does not control directly the passage of air through the wind chest not only can a shorter sheet for a given composition be attained but the speed of travel of the sheet may be materially reduced.

In Fig. l l show a modication in which there is one valve lll for each pair of wind chests 8a and 9u. Each valve has its own feeler or point 19aN to enter the openings in the note controlling sheet 7s T he stemsv loa of thesev lingers or rather the lingers themselves are guided in ways a; of a bar y forming a part of thel frame of the' instrument attached theretov by pins as y1.

The upper section of the casing has al reentrant wall o at the center of which the mouth piece a is located.

l. A musicalinstrument comprising a casing having poche-ts for rolls, a perforated note controlling sheet carried by the rolls, wind chests having reeds carried by the caising, valves controlling the' wind chests and feeler lingers connected with the valves and controlled by the perforated sheet for opening and. closing said valves", said casing. being formed in upper Y and lower sections with means for holding them together, the rolls being located on opposite sides of the series o'f lingers, substantially as described.

2. A musical instrument according to claim i in which the upper sectionr carries a centrally disposed mouth piece.

8. A musical instrument according to claim 1 in which there is a series of wind chests in the lower wall Vof the lower section on each side of the vertical center line of the instru'- ment and an arm extends from each feeler linger toga pair of valves, one valve for each wind chest, the feeler fingers being disposed at the vertical center line of the instrument, substantially as described.

e. A musical instrument according to claim l in which the feeler lingers are disposed in line with the central mouth piece,A substantially as described.

5'. A; musical instrument comprising a casing 'having a centrally disposed mouth piece, rolls in the casing onY oppositeV sides of the mouth piece, feeler fingers disposed centrally of the casing in line with the mouth piece, wind chests carried by the casing7 valves controlling the wind chests and operated by the ngers controlled by the perforated sheet passing from one roll to the other.

6. A musical instrument comprising a casing in upper and lower sections, having a mouth piece disposed centrally of the upper section and with roll containing recesses on opposite sides of said mouth piece, and in said upper section, rolls in said recesses, a perforated note controlling sheet passing from roll to roll, bearings on the upper section at each side of the mouth piece for deflecting the note controlling sheet downwardly in its course from roll to roll, a perforated bearing bar at the inner endl of the mouth piece below which the note controlling sheet is directed, feeler fingers centrally mounted in the lower section of the casing in line with said perforated bearing bar, valves controlled by said feeler fingers, and wind chests having reeds carried by the lower section of the casing, which wind chests are opened and closed by said valves, substantially as described.

ln testimony whereoil I affix m-y signature.

HERBERT G.

ich 

